The overall efficiency of a power plant improves with the effective use of the waste heat produced therein. The term “waste heat” generally may encompass any supply of residual heat produced by a primary process that is not conventionally exploited as a source of energy. One method of using the waste heat produced by a combustion engine is to apply a bottoming Rankine cycle so as to generate electricity. Steam-based Rankine cycle systems, however, may be relatively costly and inefficient, particularly when operating on low temperature waste heat. Similarly, the performance of an organic Rankine cycle system may be limited by the nature of the working fluid therein.
There is thus a desire for an improved bottoming cycle system for use with a gas turbine engine. Preferably such an improved bottoming cycle system may provide multiple functions and advantages in an integrated system that efficiently uses the waste heat of a gas turbine.